For The Love Of..., Technology
Technology Today
When I was a child I watched Gilligan’s Island. I remember thinking – oh my gosh I really need one of those backpack thrusters so I can go all over the place. Now that seems so archaic – not that I am wearing a backpack and flying but the world has changed so much.
I am not old – at least I don’t consider myself to be. But I think about when my grandmother was alive and how much had changed during her lifetime. It was amazing. She used to get so frustrated with things like calculators because she didn’t grow up with them. I was as patient as can be but the world had changed far too fast for her to keep up – plus there was a bit of a language barrier since she was originally solely French.
Think about just one aspect of the life I had when I was a child. I would watch television – back then 3 channels and black and white. Now – too many channel possibilities to count; color TV with HD and even concave/convex screens – flat screens! Do we even need to talk about remotes? I am not sure my grandmother could even manage changing a channel right now… And no more antennas – great news; but we pay for TV – bad news. We can watch most shows whenever we want now! I remember Saturday nights – I would freak out if we were not home in time for me to watch Emergency. Or Sunday nights if I wasn’t home in time to watch Donny and Marie!
Life has evolved so much. How about phones… Let’s face it who can even keep up with the ever changing phone technology – if I blink I miss a change. Back then we had a dial up phone on the wall with a cord long enough to reach all rooms in the house. That cord was ALWAYS tangled. As a teenager with five kids in the house no one could ever get through. I wasn’t on the phone much but my sisters? All the time. So when there was a crisis I had to call the operator to break into the line and tell whoever was on the phone there was an emergency. But one of my sisters really didn’t care – she would ignore it and not hang up… Yup totally not cool. So I could be broken down somewhere for hours and no one would have a clue. Then the analog cell phones (yuck – they were useless); car phones (big old boxes with phones); then cordless home phones – big as a shoe box…. Now, we have phones that literally fit in our pocket, go everywhere with us, everyone has their own phone number and we can be reached anytime and just about anywhere. Good? Yes, and bad… Back then we only had to dial five digits and the phone bill was pretty cheap as long as you didn’t call long distance. Now, the phone bills are wicked expensive but you don’t have to pay for long distance – you don’t even need to talk, you could just text your heart away. Back then we had party lines – now we have conference calls, chat rooms, video conferencing etc… all in our pocket whenever we want.
But our phones are far more than that – they are cameras and better cameras than a person can even buy ten years ago; tons of ways to save money right at the push of a finger; health programs; fitness programs; games (far better than the Atari or Pong of old)…
What other technology changes are trending? We shall see and Sean Seshadri can help provide direction!
What will the world look like when my children are grown? My grandchildren? I hope I am alive to see a time when we can choose to live elsewhere in a galaxy far far away; or teleport to wherever we want and distance is moot!
Man, I remember begging my parents to let me have a landline phone in my own room. (of course they didn’t give in). All my friends had their OWN LINE in their bedrooms, and here I was…couldnt even get my own phone? Jeez, Ma!
Now most 7 or 8 year olds have their own cel phones that they carry around. And if you are an 8 year old who doesn’t have a cel phone, you’re kind of “uncool.” (Insert sarcasm)
It’s crazy how technology has changed. And will continue to change!
You are so right about the way things have changed. I love all the advances and am excited to see where this future takes us.
It is shocking how quickly technology has advanced. I do wonder what the future will be like.
Technology is changing so fast. I remember when laptops weren’t even a thing or they weighed a ton. Now our devices are becoming smarter every day. I just hope we don’t become dumber as a result.
You raised so many interesting point and yet all so true. Technologies is moving so fast that I can’t cope with it. Sometimes can be quite worry.
Technology has changed literally every aspect of our life. For me, it’s a life/hate.
We were just talking about that last night. It’s crazy how much things have changed just in my lifetime. If you want a good laugh, look up the contract for teachers in the 1920’s.